Encore chamber choir marks 10 years after an enthusiasm-led start

Estonian chamber choir Encore will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Nov. 14, after beginning as a project driven by its founder’s enthusiasm, conductor Karin Tuul told ERR’s Terevisioon programme.

Tuul said she founded the choir while studying choral conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She wanted a choir of her own whose sound, identity and repertoire she could shape. Some singers have been with Encore since its founding and have rehearsed every Sunday evening for the past decade.

Tuul also had an educational goal for the choir. Many of its early singers had performed in either women’s or men’s choirs, she said, and had yet to learn the standard mixed-choir repertoire. She gradually introduced music she felt an educated, experienced Estonian choir singer should know.

Encore is an amateur choir and is not part of any organisation. Tuul said its first seven years ran purely on enthusiasm. As singers moved into paid work, the choir was able to raise its membership fees and begin paying its conductor. Tuul also works as a director at a hobby school.

Tuul is also a composer, and her songs have been performed at song festivals. She said composing creates additional opportunities for her.